The logo of Russian conglomerate Sistema is seen on a board at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017 (SPIEF 2017) in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 1, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s Sistema could consider lowering dividend payments at its MTS unit if the mobile phone operator needs funds to cover a possible fallout from a U.S. investigation into its Uzbek business, Interfax reported.

Interfax quoted Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Sistema’s biggest shareholder, as making the comments. MTS said last month it had set aside around $850 million in connection with the investigation into its operations in Uzbekistan.